Managing collaborative activity

ABSTRACT

A system facilitates collaborative communications and information sharing in a network defined by a model. The model and a portion of the system are stored on a storage component coupled to a terminal. The system captures context information and user-defined data, the user-defined data provided during user interaction of the user in a first domain of the network, and dynamically stores the context information as metadata associated with the user-defined data, the user-defined data and the metadata stored on the storage component; a tracking component for tracking a change of the user from the first domain to a second domain of the network and dynamically updating the stored metadata based on the change, where the user accesses the user-defined data from the second domain; and an interface to the system that permits the user to create and view the user-defined data according to the model of the network.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/313,658, entitled “System and Method for Collaborative Communications and Information Sharing,” filed Dec. 7, 2011, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/312,740, entitled “Processing Management Information,” filed May 14, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,095,413, issued Jan. 10, 2012, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/133,152, now expired, having the same title as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/312,740, and having a filing date of May 7, 1999. This patent application contains the entire Detailed Descriptions of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/313,658 and 09/312,740.

BACKGROUND

The Web and Internet technology allow far-flung people to be linked and share information as never before, fostering new alliances and revolutionizing business. However, the tools developed so far are primarily intended to enable people to communicate at the individual and team level.

SUMMARY

A computer-implemented system facilitates collaborative communications and information sharing in a network defined by a model. The model of the network is accessible by a user through at least one terminal having a processor. At least a portion of the system, and the model, are stored on a storage component coupled to the terminal. The system includes a context component for capturing context information and user-defined data, the user-defined data provided during user interaction of the user in a first domain of the network, the context component dynamically storing the context information as metadata associated with the user-defined data, the user-defined data and the metadata stored on the storage component of the system; a tracking component for tracking a change of the user from the first domain to a second domain of the network and dynamically updating the stored metadata based on the change, where the user accesses the user-defined data from the second domain; and an interface component for providing an interface to the system accessible by the user at the terminal, the interface permitting the user to create and view the user-defined data according to the model of the network.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 are block diagrams of software systems;

FIGS. 3, 6-10, and 12-40 are illustrations of computer display screens produced by the software systems;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of principles underlying the software systems; and

FIG. 11 is a spider diagram produced by the software systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Agile Management Portal program includes Intranet/Internet based software integrated in a process to help organizations such as companies, enterprises, and businesses, to be more agile. The program allows management teams, wherever located, to quickly plan, design, and work on a common portfolio of strategic goals and initiatives the teams believe will make the business grow and prosper, and to gain access to pre-populated external sources of knowledge, expertise and tools via the Internet.

Agility management: In at least some circumstances, Agility means being able to consistently grow and perform better than competitors in the marketplace over time, and Agility management means linking strategic planning, project management, and high performance organizational principles into an integrated set of management tools, templates and services that enable organizations to be more agile.

The Agile Manager can serve as a “management portal” through which people can view both internal organizational goals and external information available to help achieve these goals. The Portal's functional architecture is called The Agile Manager, and has four modules that can be used in a planning and management process: the Agile Manager, the Agile Company, the Agile Baseline, and Agile Know-how,

The Agile Manager Includes:

(1) a business domain structure to which strategic goals and contributing initiatives can be linked. This structure creates a stem-to stern view of how the business works, including customer, value chain, organization and economic domains. This structure allows the user to enter and subsequently explore strategic goals and initiatives germane to either the organization as a whole or to a particular domain. Once the user picks an area of interest, the user is effectively “one click” away from several context sensitive views about investments the organization is making to grow and improve performance.

(2) a gap analysis facility that a management team can use to assess performance gaps and to design how any aspect of the domain structure would have to change to close these gaps.

(3) the ability to create a portfolio of strategic goals and their contributing initiatives using either top down brainstorming or bottom-up association techniques. As a result, teams can effectively start with a clean sheet of paper and reinvent the business from scratch. Or the teams can review an inventory of already on-going activities and relate these activities to each other and to overall strategic goals. Having this portfolio available on-line—subject to permissioning controls—for all to see, keeps members of the organization aware of where they need to go, what it will take to get there, and what actions should be taken to stay on track.

(4) a facility to draw people's attention immediately to changes in the portfolio and its contents that are important to the people in view of their particular roles or interests. This facility gives various common and individualized views of different goals and initiatives that will help diverse groups of people to work together effectively. A history of these changes and related dates is also maintained.

(5) a common attribute structure that provides information (e.g., costs, payback, priority, risks, due dates) for any goal and contributing initiative so the goals and initiatives can be sorted against a piece of information to facilitate ongoing decision making. For example, if resources are limited, the user can sort initiatives by cost, payback, and priority, or if the user wants to see how the portfolio will affect any part of the organization, the user can sort by domain.

(6) the ability to follow a context sensitive link to any goal or initiative and its relevant internal and external sources of knowledge deemed helpful to successful implementation.

(7) a management action plan/agenda utility that managers can use to keep track of pending issues and actions for each strategic goal or initiative. As a result, users can learn about outstanding issues, upcoming agenda items, and the responsible parties. As a result, items are easily found and a user is allowed to see progress related issues before meetings, so that less time is needed to focus management meetings on substantive issues.

The Agile Company:

(8) The Agile Manager also supports the Agile Company program, which includes content that executives can use to assess how well their organization matches high performance criteria and to suggest base-case template programs that can be adapted to accelerate developing agility. Behind the Agile Company is content reflecting 20 traits and characteristics that capture fundamental principles underlying agile, high performing organizations

The Agile Baseline:

(9) The Agile Baseline includes an accessible assessment tool that displays performance criteria that respondents then evaluate in terms of their organization's competency relative to each criterion. The result of this input is displayed as a “spider” diagram that visually helps to convey the extent of any gaps that should be closed to improve competitiveness. The spider diagram helps people focus on opportunities for improvement and makes the rationale for change readily accessible to members of the organization.

Agile Know-How:

(10) Agile Know-how includes a subscription service that provides links to specific knowledge sources and tools that can be helpful to people working on different initiatives. This subscription service fits together with the Agile Manager so the knowledge is accessible in the context in which it is needed.

When the Agile Manager and its modules are used in conjunction with the Agility Management Process, people are better able to work together in a way demonstrated to be correlated with high performance:

-   -   Fosters a more adaptive culture (e.g., to relish change and         fight inertia): linking goals, projects and their attributes and         being able to sort the portfolio to focus on a particular aspect         facilitates adapting to changes when they occur.     -   Helps align users behind strategic goals and contributing         projects: getting users to “see” in simple outline form where         the organization wants to go to grow and prosper, and what it's         going to take to get there, which enables users to understand         the strategy and to keep their own projects in alignment.     -   Helps employees act and be treated like owners: when people can         see a model of the organization and understand how it works they         are better able to make decisions about what is important, much         as if they owned the organization.     -   Helps make decisions based on benefits and risks to the         business: linking proposed initiatives to the model of the         organization, and to costs, paybacks, and priorities makes it         easier to understand the benefits and risks that could result.     -   Provides well managed structure that encourages teamwork across         boundaries: the ability to understand and be informed of changes         elsewhere in the organization enhances the ability to work         across different disciplines and locations.     -   Encourages people to continuously look for ways to improve the         business: enabling management team members to review a table of         contents of their business, and to assess gaps between how good         they need to be and where they are currently, and to set goals         for closing these gaps; this ability of individuals or teams to         step back and to “see” the table of contents and to reflect on         what changes need to be made to be different in the marketplace         and to improve performance is a key ingredient in creating a         culture that continually looks for ways to improve the business.     -   Helps people understand better how the pieces of the business         work together: the model of the business gives viewers an         integrated view of how the business works and how they relate,         which provides a valuable context for understanding why         something that does not entirely make sense locally could be         proper for the business as a whole.     -   Keeps users focused on successfully implementing strategic         priorities: The ability to constantly view and be aware of what         is in the approved strategic goals and initiatives portfolio         keeps members of the organization aligned around common         strategic priorities.     -   Makes the management process more cost effective by having         information and knowledge available when it is needed: the         linking of plans, goals, resources, people and projects into a         relational database accessible via the Internet makes valuable         information available almost immediately.

The Computing Environment:

To use Agility Manager effectively, an organization may use an intranet with widespread email and Web browser usage. Agility Manager is compatible with modern email systems and with Microsoft and Netscape Web browsers. Typically, no other client-side software is required.

Agility Manager combines sophisticated application code with powerful, industry standard server components. The Agility Manager server includes a database server, a Web application server, and application code written in server-side Java. Agility Manager can use a Microsoft or Oracle database server. For example, Agility Manager may be run on an IBM Websphere application server, or may run on other Java-based application servers. The Agility Manager may run on Windows NT or Solaris or other operating environments.

Agility Manager may be installed on an internal server, or may be hosted on a server such as a Web server and connected via Internet or Virtual Private Net.

Example of an on-Site Installation:

Browsers: MS Internet Explorer 3+, Netscape Navigator/Communicator 3+

Mailers: Email client with click-through URL linking, such as Notes, Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Communicator.

Server OS: Windows NT 4 Solaris 2.5+

Database Server: MS SQL 6.5 Oracle 8 Database administration capability is typically required.

Application Server: IBM WebSphere 1.1 or 2.0

Web Server: MS IIS, Apache, or Netscape

Mail System: SMTP compatible, such as Notes, Exchange, Sendmail, Small, Postoffice.

Example of an Off-Site Installation:

Browsers: MS Internet Explorer 3+, Netscape Navigator/Communicator 3+

Mailers: Email client with click-through URL linking, such as Notes, Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Communicator. Integration and Source Code

The Agile Manager is based on a relational data model.

Screen Map for Agile Manager:

FIG. 1 is a map of the basic structure of the suite of software that shows key functions performed by the Agile Manager and ways in which users can get access to other modules of the suite. The sequence of the map illustrates logical paths users take as different aspects of the goal hierarchy are considered, from deciding what belongs and why, designing and modifying goals and contributing projects, monitoring and pursuing issues related to implementation progress, and getting to specific knowledge found helpful to the context of any particular initiative. A screen by screen description is provided below.

Overview of Corporate Processes Affected by the Agility Management Program

The Agility Management Program helps leaders, managers, and staff conduct normal management practices in everyday corporate life while quickly and effectively using the power of the Internet to gain access to knowledge needed to make decisions. Thus, the program helps leaders and managers to execute daily operations successfully, to continually improve the way they do business to keep abreast of changing competitive conditions and to deliver increasing value to their customers and owners.

The Planning/Execution Cycle (Process)

Technology is transforming virtually every aspect of commerce, and globalization and deregulation are making competition more complex. These forces are causing organizations to go through planning and execution cycles to launch multiple new initiatives to cope. To do this, organizations routinely make assessments of their performance—they consider best practices, they survey customer opinions, they examine market and competitive trends and practices; they create task forces and hire consultants who generate findings and conclusions. To handle these conclusions, organizations conduct planning to establish goals and design initiatives to improve their performance—they hold retreats to develop these visions and they decide on priorities and allocate resources to fund initiatives to bring these visions to fruition. To execute these initiatives, organizations assign staff and hire outside expertise and know-how to get the results they want. To get the results to stick, organizations undertake change management programs to bring people and organizational behaviors into line with what the new initiatives require.

The Agility Management Program software enables people to get organized and communicate much easier and faster as they go through these planning and execution cycles, and to gain access to knowledge and tools that will help them understand how to implement their initiatives more successfully. FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship between the Agile Manager and common planning practices.

Managing a Portfolio of Initiatives

The planning/execution process is repeated again and again across organizations in different departments, functional areas, and lines of business. It is not uncommon for literally hundreds of initiatives to be underway in units across an organization. Some of the initiatives are local initiatives to improve a specific operation and typically do not need to be coordinated with other initiatives. Many initiatives, however, have multiple components that should be coordinated so that they contribute to the accomplishment of a single overarching goal. For instance, a new product requires that processes across the organization from sales and marketing, through operations and manufacturing, and technology to human resources be integrated and aligned so that the product will be introduced in time to exploit an opportunity in the marketplace. Similarly, introduction of new technology, such as a new workstation, often requires coordination of units from information technology, sales and marketing, human resource training, and administration before the new technology can be put into beneficial use.

The Agile Manager not only facilitates the planning/execution cycle for any particular goal or initiative, but also allows the user to put all the priority goals and each priority goal's contributing initiatives into a strategic implementation portfolio or hierarchy (FIG. 3.).

The portfolio view relates contributing initiatives or projects to their overarching goals and to each other, and allows the user to sort these initiatives, projects, or goals in a variety of ways. For example, the user can sort the initiatives in terms of their impact on the domain structure of the organization, by strategic factors such as cost, payback, and priority, or according to the status and stage the goals and initiatives are in to allow better management.

Helping Leaders, Managers and Staff Play their Different Roles

People throughout an organization have distinct roles to play in the formulation and implementation of plans. Traditionally, these roles have been substantially formalized, with senior levels likely to do the planning and lower levels likely to do the implementation. Modern email and voice communication have flattened organizational structures by allowing ordinary employees to get access to information on their own without depending on senior levels as the source of knowledge.

The Agile Manager allows effectively everyone to see the goals and projects important to the company and, as shown on FIG. 4, helps people to play specific roles with a clear picture of the initiatives involved and allows people to contribute ideas.

Overview of how the Software Integrates with a Process in the Agility Management Program

As shown in FIG. 5, the Agility Management Program reflects principles of effective management of high performing organizations.

The following describes a typical sequence of how a management user/team might use the Agile Manager. The particular example is drawn from an actual implementation of the Agile Manager linking strategic corporate goals and Information Technology initiatives. The Agile Manager structure allows many different business applications, and a key problem it helps solve is bridging a communication gap between business users and their technical counterparts so both sides work off the same page.

Planning:

The first sequence, for planning, starts with users viewing their domain structure (FIG. 6) and deciding where they want to set a new goal (see FIG. 7). Users can view the domain structure at different levels of depth from the highest level (shown in FIG. 6) to lower levels showing sub-components within each domain (see FIG. 8). If they wish, users can display already existing goals (see FIG. 9), which helps them to understand what's in the current hierarchy, which can help address issues such as whether particular domains are sufficiently active and whether some existing goals may no longer be appropriate.

Once users have reviewed current activity and debated where the company needs to devote attention to improve future performance, they can select any domain and select an Agile Baseline Mode (“Baseline”). Baseline allows users to critique the selected domain in terms of criteria that The Agile Manager suggests (see FIG. 10), or that they provide or modify themselves. Once the users have agreed on the criteria and reached consensus about both how good the criteria need to be and how good the criteria currently are, the results are displayed in a spider diagram (see FIG. 11). The spider diagram helps to capture the users' assessment of the current situation and to explain why the domain has been selected for developing new goals to be included in the hierarchy. Subsequently, users can return to Baseline to reassess whether improvement goals and projects that have been undertaken have in fact been successful. This reassessment can suggest new gap areas where new initiatives may be appropriate, or indicate that not enough has been accomplished to sufficiently improve the situation.

After exercising Baseline, users may establish a new goal (by a “new goal” button on the domain screens) (see FIG. 7 for the screen that appears when the button is pushed) to improve performance. Once established, the new goal takes its place in the goal hierarchy and management can decide what should happen next.

For example, even if a goal “expand business with the most profitable customers” has been entered, ideas related to the goal have not been entirely fleshed out, resources have not been allocated, plans have not been formulated, and accountability has not been assigned. The goal is without projects necessary to bring about the desired results. To begin to put these projects together, users can use the gap analysis feature to view each domain and sub-domain in terms of how each domain or sub-domain would have to change if the goal is to be achieved. As users identify these changes, they create in effect a vision of a different company that would achieve the goal (see FIG. 12). In this example, two projects or goals to expand business with profitable customers are: to deepen relationships with high net worth clients, and to have profitable products for every segment. Each of these two projects or goals may also in turn be analyzed in the gap analysis process to create other projects or goals that will make them a reality.

As these projects or goals are defined, they are added to the Goals Hierarchy (see FIG. 3) that provides access to the strategic hierarchy of goals and contributing projects or goals that the company is working on to improve performance. If the user wants to get more information about the new goal or any goal listed in the hierarchy, the user clicks on the goal of interest to get to summary information as shown in FIG. 13 for the goal “expand business with most profitable customers.”

In summary, the planning sequence allows the user to update company plans either by starting with a clean sheet of paper and brainstorming a new goal and the projects that would bring it about, or by reviewing the existing hierarchy of goals and projects and deciding whether something is missing; Thus, the hierarchy typically includes a combination of new ideas being considered and maturing goals and projects that are in the process of implementation.

Managing the Hierarchy:

The Agile Manager allows managers to keep the hierarchy of goals and contributing goals in constant view and up-to-date with changing circumstances. The hierarchy can be viewed as a totality of goals and contributing goals affecting the enterprise (see FIG. 3), or can be viewed by top goals (see FIG. 14), depending on the user's interest, or by specific top goal (see FIG. 15).

In addition, the user can view the hierarchy against certain types of information that help inform the user about the impact of goals on the business domains (see FIG. 16) or the priority (see FIG. 17) or impact of each of the goals, or about its status, stage of development, or ownership accountability (see FIG. 18). Because these different views are a click away, the Agile Manager supports a dynamic decision making process where discussion can move quickly from strategic to tactical considerations. For example, if the topic is budgets, the user can sort by goal or project cost (see FIG. 17), or by priority or return on investment (“payback”) (see FIG. 19) and can be provided with information that can help the user decide where to commit resources based on factors such as benefit and risk. In another example, when managers meet and want to focus on key implementation issues, they can opt to switch to viewing “status” factors and can view goals or projects by status (e.g., on track or in need of attention) (see FIG. 18), which stage each is in (see FIG. 20), risks, or who is responsible. Without the Agile Manager, each view would likely require a special study or report; the Agile Manager makes these different views available at a moment's notice. In addition, managers who want to explore any goal or project in more detail can click on the goal or project of interest and get more information. Similarly, managers who see something missing while reviewing the overall hierarchy can select “new goal” from the menu and enter a new goal or project (see FIG. 21).

In at least some embodiments, an especially important view managers can use to manage the hierarchy is a view in which the goals and projects are sorted by domain. This view can be produced for any of a number of levels, e.g., for the entire hierarchy (see FIG. 16) or for a selected goal in isolation (see FIG. 24). A purpose of this view is to allow managers to understand quickly what initiatives are underway or will affect an aspect of the business. For instance, if a question arises regarding what is being done about market trends, managers can click on any topic on the domain structure (e.g. customer relationships) (see FIG. 23) and see immediately what initiatives are underway related to this topic (see FIG. 24). Users can also execute searches by name or word in the title of a goal or project (see FIG. 25), and can put Alerts in place (see FIG. 26) that will flag changes that occur in goals or projects previously indicated as being of particular interest (see FIG. 26).

Executing Goals and Projects:

A major purpose of the Agile Manager, in addition to planning and managing the overall portfolio of goals and projects (i.e. the hierarchy), is to help managers accelerate implementation progress related to a goal and its contributing projects. A user has an array of choices to view when reviewing the progress of a selected goal. (The choices available depend on the permission that is granted by the Owner of a Goal to different types of users (see FIG. 27)).

A “summary” page (see FIG. 13) contains information about the goal itself that can be edited (see FIG. 28). Other main views for helping to manage include “progress” (see FIG. 29) that displays the contributing projects or goals that must be finished or achieved before the parent goal can be fully accomplished. The “progress” view allows managers to view progress for the contributing projects side-by-side to determine whether the projects are properly synchronized or are out of phase with each other.

Other features are useful for managers and teams executing goals and contributing projects. A “discussion” feature (see FIG. 30) allows a user on the system to communicate directly about, and in the context of, the goal or project of interest. The owner of a goal can also select a particularly important part of the discussion and put it on an agenda (see FIG. 31). Another useful feature includes an ability to link to internal and external sources of information that goal or project teams believe are important to make accessible to users involved (see FIGS. 32 and 33). The links provide a practical application of knowledge management because the links allow teams to place information effectively or actually one click away so users can get at the information without excessively disturbing the state of the software. For example, users can hot-link to and open a detailed Microsoft Project plan if the plan is useful to the discussions. Users can place Word documents related to the goal where the documents can be found, and open the documents when needed. Similarly, users can link to Web sites of outside consultants or suppliers that may be related to the goal at hand. In this way, users can start using the software through the domain structure, find out the relevant issues, and access relevant knowledge context sensitively along the way.

The above sections have laid out a description of Agile Manager and the Agile Baseline module In addition, the Agile Manager includes the Agile Company and Agile Know-How modules.

The Agile Company can be added to or made accessible from the Agile Manager and provides a survey that employees can take to assess how well the company or organization is managed in view of high performance criteria. The Agile Company software can be downloaded onto the client's server and a user on the network can complete a questionnaire of multiple pages, such as 20 pages, (exemplified in FIG. 34) and then the software can tabulate results to show strengths and weaknesses for sample analysis. The Agile Company also has templates that can be made available to help clients get started with a change program designed to improve specific high performance traits. The goal “expand business with most profitable customers’ shown in FIG. 36 is set up with such a template.

Agile Know-How links users to excerpts of publications about topics relevant to the goals and projects in which they're involved. For instance, the user can stipulate concepts, such as leadership, and specific aspects of the concept, such as senior leadership, and the kind of information needed, such as understanding the concepts, or how to be a good leader, and then get excerpts that match the needed information. In this regard, the Agile Manager enables an organization to use the Agile Manager as a single source for not only information about strategic initiatives but also knowledge available inside and outside the organization that can help make the organization more agile.

The Input Screen and Process Flows Include:

The Goal Hierarchy Screen is the default screen (see FIG. 3) and an important navigational screen for accessing details about any single goal or initiative, or accessing various views. Once the goals and contributing projects have been loaded, the default screen presents a goal hierarchy and can be used as follows:

-   -   Hierarchy: the left side of the screen presents an outline the         top section of which represents the organization's strategic         implementation plan, i.e., in which the top level statements         represent strategic goals that are the highest level         organization goals, and the next indented level statements         represent contributing initiatives that are indicated as having         to be completed for the strategic goals to be achieved. A user         authorized to see the portfolio view can see where the         organization wants to go and what it will take to get there,         with the goals and projects associated together in one spot.     -   Unassociated Goals: the goals and initiatives under this heading         are indicated as being either no longer relevant strategically         or not yet placed in the hierarchy.     -   Functions from this screen: If a user is unhappy with the         placement of a goal or initiative or wants to adjust attributes         of the goal or initiative, the user has only to click on a goal         or initiative listed to retrieve its related information. For         example, a click on the initiative takes the user to a summary         screen (see FIG. 13 for example) for this initiative. The         following information fields are available for any goal or         initiative:     -   Heading: the entry shows the name of the goal or initiative for         which basic information is displayed on this screen.     -   Owner: this entry lists the name of the person responsible for         implementation of the goal or initiative and authorized to edit         its related information.     -   Parent Goal: this entry lists the name of the goal or initiative         immediately above or superior to the initiative that is active.         An advantage of showing the parent goal is that a user working         on the initiative is instructed that the initiative is         contributing to the parent goal.     -   Objective: this entry shows the objective of the initiative so a         user is instructed as to what the initiative is specifically to         accomplish.     -   History: the entry maintains a running log of changes made to         the initiative, and indicated by whom and when. Here is recorded         when the project was created and when delegated to the current         owner. The changes are monitored by the computer so that the         user can identify which changes the user wants to have flagged         automatically when they are made (see View Alerts below).     -   Status: this entry identifies the category such as “on-time,”         chosen to summarize the status of the goal or initiative's         progress, so that the user can determine at a glance whether the         goal or initiative is in need of attention. The categories         listed here can be modified to fit each client situation when an         edit mode is selected. Due Date: this entry indicates the date         by which the initiative is to be achieved.     -   Priority: the benefit entry presents a numerical score from 1         (lowest) to 5 (highest) based on user judgment about the         relative value of the initiative or goal in terms of improving         the business results. For example, the goal may be rated 3 of 5,         i.e., average. An advantage of a simple rating is that users can         quickly understand the rating scale and then discuss         specifically the reasons behind the rating.     -   Risk: this field presents a 1 to 5 numerical score that         indicates a risk level for the goal or initiative, such as that         the team is new, that the technology is untested, or that the         market is new. By keeping track of risk, managers can work         proactively to reduce risk and thus increase the probability of         a successful implementation. In addition, when there are         resource constraints, decisions about which initiatives to         continue to pursue may depend on a combination of benefit scores         and risk scores to indicate how much managers can count on         achieving the initiative and having a positive impact on the         business. For example, with a priority score of 3 that is lower         than a risk score of 4, a question might be raised about whether         to continue to fund the initiative if there are other         initiatives that have better benefit/risk characteristics.     -   Project Code: (not shown) this field allows an alphanumeric         identifier to be assigned for administrative purposes.     -   Stage: the stage field shows where in the project life cycle the         goal or initiative is so that a user can keep track of how the         goal or initiative is progressing and what remains to be done.         For example, the initiative shown is in the “start up” stage. In         the edit mode, several stages are displayed from which the owner         can pick one that is descriptive of the status of the         initiative.     -   Investment: this field captures the cost of or investment in         each particular goal or initiative so the user can readily         access financial information related to decision making and         priorities.     -   Payback: the payback field refers to the economic return         anticipated for achievement of the particular goal or         initiative. In conjunction with the investment field, the         payback field can allow a ratio of return on investment to be         produced, which ratio may play a key decision making role in an         assessment of the relative value of one initiative versus         another.     -   Rank: (not shown) this field is available for formulas developed         for each client for calculating the ranking of each goal and         initiative, including the combined values of initiatives         contributing to a particular strategic goal.     -   Score: (not shown) the score field relates to a unique         calculation of the cumulative value of each goal and initiative         based on weighting techniques appropriate to the user (e.g.,         alignment with corporate values, brand, payback, competitive         position, management attitudes). Both the rank and score fields         are provided to help users prioritize goals and initiatives in         the portfolio.     -   Edit button: when a user clicks on the edit button, the user is         taken immediately to the Basic Goal Edit screen (see FIG. 28)         which allows the authorized owner to modify the basic         information about the particular goal or initiative that has         been selected. The Project Name and Description fields are for         text, the Due Date is for calendar completion date information,         and the other fields such as domain, status, benefit and risk         priority, and stage present pop-up menus. When changes are         submitted, the changes are automatically accessible to whoever         uses the system and are captured in the history log.     -   Delegate button: this button allows the user to designate or         redesignate the individual who is the owner of the goal or         initiative by going to the Delegate Screen (see FIG. 35) and         searching through names of candidates to whom responsibility can         be delegated.     -   Delete button: when this button is selected, the user is         automatically asked whether the goal or initiative is to be         deleted and, if so, the goal or initiative is deleted and         archived in case subsequent retrieval becomes necessary.     -   Project Menu: this pop-up menu lists the choices of views the         user can access from the Basic Goal Info Screen as regards the         active goal or initiative that has been selected. The view         choices include the following:     -   Control Panel: when this choice is made the user is presented         with the Control Panel view (see FIG. 27) and can review the         permissioning rules. If the rules are satisfactory, the user can         retreat and proceed along another path. If the rules need to be         changed, the user clicks the edit button and is presented with         another version of the Control Panel that can be edited and         submitted. Only the authorized owner is able to make changes.     -   Project Briefing: if the user wants to understand better how the         active goal or initiative relates to the parent goal, the user         can click on this choice and will be presented with the Project         Briefing screen (see FIG. 36). Here salient information is         displayed from the Objective field in the basic information         related to the selected goal (see FIG. 37). In addition, sources         of knowledge that may be helpful to access are listed so that         the user can hot-link to them if need be. In a typical         embodiment, this screen cannot be edited and is just a view.     -   Goal Components: when the user makes this choice, the user is         presented with a Goal Components screen (see FIG. 38) and, in a         typical embodiment, views only the contributing goals that are         related to the parent goal. From this screen the user can access         different functions including:     -   Select Parent: when the user wants to change the position of an         initiative in the hierarchy, the user clicks on this button and         is taken to the Select New Parent screen (see FIG. 39). On this         screen the user can either search for the new parent goal or         initiative if the user knows its name, or click on “Select from         Project Hierarchy” and be presented with another screen that         lists the hierarchy. The user then selects a goal or initiative         as the new parent, and when the user clicks on this selection,         the original initiative is associated with the new parent and         shows up so associated in the hierarchy.     -   Add SubProject: when the user, wants to add a new subordinate         initiative with which the user is working, the user can use the         “add” button to view New Goal screen (see FIG. 7) and enter         information about the new initiative using the standard         template. When the information is entered, the new initiative is         placed appropriately in the hierarchy.     -   Add Milestone: this button allows the user to flag and define         major milestones in the initiative, which can be useful for         adding more detail if appropriate for monitoring significant         targets. The Create Milestone screen allows the user to name and         define the milestone and to set a finish date and status.     -   Project History: this button takes the user to a display of         project history (see FIG. 40) that shows when changes were made,         from creation of the initiative to modifications to any of its         attributes. This history can be very valuable for tracking key         events in the life of a goal or initiative for analytic or other         reasons. From this screen the user can also add comments to         explain particular events, or add new events.     -   Links: this button takes the user to a view (see FIG. 33) of the         links to any knowledge sources that the initiative team has         chosen to put here so that the knowledge sources will be         accessible to any members when necessary. An advantage of this         facility is that with the domain structure linked to goals and         initiatives and with knowledge linked to the goals and         initiatives, the organization is provided with a clear and         natural organization for placing and locating critical         information when needed. From this screen the user can add links         (see FIG. 32).     -   Gaps Analysis: this button takes the user to the list of         contributing goals/projects (with actual and desired weightings)         by domain—screen (see FIG. 12). From this list the user can         determine whether the changes for each key domain have been         identified. If the user is dissatisfied, the user can either         select the edit button and change specific information about one         or more of the existing contributing goals/projects or click on         “Add” to get to the Edit Contributing Goal screen (see FIG. 7)         In the latter case, the user can select a domain and enter the         name of a new initiative, its actual achievement weighting         (based on current status) and desired achievement weighting         (based on the importance of this initiative to achieving the         parent goal). When the new initiative idea is submitted, the         software displays the Gap Analysis view with the new initiative         added. The user can continue to add new contributing         goals/projects by domain. When the user is comfortable that the         domains have been covered, the user can click on a listed goal         name and proceed directly to its summary screen to begin to         flesh out more information about its characteristics such as its         owner and objective. In at least some cases, the value of the         Gap Analysis is substantial, because it allows users to         brainstorm what changes in the domain structure need to be made         if a particular goal or initiative is to be implemented         successfully. In this regard, the combination of domain         structure and gap analysis keeps members of the organization         focused on how the organization works and where improvements         need to be made for strategic or tactical reasons.     -   View Menu: the menu at the top of the Goal Hierarchy screen (see         FIG. 22) give the user access to hierarchical views that         facilitate decision making related to creating the hierarchy         itself, reviewing status, or flagging changes particularly         interesting to the user. A description of each of the buttons is         set forth in the following sections:     -   Select Domain: When this is selected the domain structure screen         is presented (see FIG. 23).     -   All Goals View: when this button is clicked, the user is         presented with screen (see FIG. 16) which repeats the hierarchy         on the left and adds relevant information on the right in five         categories useful to users when the users want to assess the         validity of the current goal hierarchy, including cost, payback         priority, domain, and due date (expressed as time remaining         before expected completion). From this screen, the user can         select other views where the hierarchy is sorted by category         represented by the column heading, e.g., is sorted in descending         order of costs, screen (see FIG. 17), thereby helping people         decide whether the level of investment required can be afforded.         Likewise, using column headings as buttons, the user can sort         the hierarchy into various views according to payback (see FIG.         19), priority (see FIG. 19), domain (see FIG. 16), or due date.         These views facilitate meetings and deliberations where users         need to quickly produce a variety of sorted views to achieve the         variety of perspectives needed to reach informed decisions. For         example, a view sorted by payback, with cost information also         visible, helps users decide whether the return on investment         will be sufficient to justify financially. Sorting by priority         allows users to view the relative weightings that have been         given to the goals and initiatives based on factors deemed         important from a prioritization perspective. In a typical case,         from a strategic perspective, the view sort by domain is highly         desirable because this view shows how the goals and initiatives         affect different aspects of the organization, e.g., from dealing         with customers, to processes, organization, and economics. As a         result, users can make common sense decisions about, for         example, whether all the needed changes in all the domains have         been accounted for.     -   Status View: this button takes the user to various views of the         portfolio sorted by information fields that indicate how well         the goal or initiative is progressing. When the button is         clicked, the Projects by Status screen (see FIG. 18) is         presented, sorted by status categories and showing other column         headings that can be clicked on to get Projects by Stage (see         FIG. 20) or by Owner, Projects by Risk, and Projects by Due         Date. Armed with these views, users can decide where to focus         their attention to keep projects on track.     -   Alerts View: this button takes the user to the Project Alerts         View (see FIG. 26) which shows changes a particular user has         identified as being of particular interest. From this view, the         user can access the Set Alerts and Set AlertsEdit screens and         modify the goals and types of changes the computer is to monitor         and flag on the user's behalf

In a typical embodiment, the Agile Manager is accessible from every desktop, with appropriate security clearances, for individual or team use on-line, with print out ability for manual use, and for electronic projection to facilitate team meetings. The software is flexible and is arranged to allow the user to make non-structural changes in, for example, the specifics contained. The user changes the “base case” to reflect the desired language and sub-domain elements. As a result, the more the tool is used, the more the tool comes to reflect the user and the user tends to become proficient with the tool.

The technique (i.e., at least a portion of one or more of the procedures described above) may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. In some cases, it is advantageous if the method is implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers that each include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device such as a keyboard, and at least one output device. Program code is applied to data entered using the input device to perform the procedure described above and to generate output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices.

In some cases, it is advantageous if each program is implemented in a high level procedural or object-oriented programming language such as Microsoft C or C++ to communicate with a computer system. The programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language. In some cases, it is advantageous if each such computer program is stored on a storage medium or device (e.g., ROM or magnetic diskette) that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described in this document. The system may also be considered to be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium that has been configured with a computer program, where the storage medium as configured with the program causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner. 

1. A collaboration system, comprising: a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising: a collaboration model, comprising: model entities that provide access to information related to a collaborative activity, the model entities including a model entity contained in a first hierarchy of a first type and contained in a second hierarchy of a second type; the first hierarchy neither containing nor contained in the second hierarchy; and configurable permissioning controls established for each of the persons involved in the collaborative activity, and machine instructions for collaborative activity operations according to the collaboration model; and a processor that: accesses the collaboration model and the permissioning controls, and executes the machine instructions to: enable display of a graphical user interface; determine a type of access by a person to the model entities by: reading the permissioning controls, and comparing the permissioning controls to an identification of the person entered by the person in the graphical user interface; and perform the collaborative activity operations on the model entities to: grant access by the person to the model entities according to the determined type of access, view, create, modify, and delete the model entities, make changes to the model entities immediately available to all persons authorized to access the model entities, assign the model entities to locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy, access and modify the information related to the collaborative activity, and display the model entities in the graphical user interface according to the locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein within a given hierarchy, the model entities are ordered by values in the information related to the collaborative activity.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface, comprises: an output device that provides outputs to the person; and an input device that responds to inputs from the person.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the collaborative activity model further comprises: representations of further information related to certain ones of the model entities; and the graphical user interface permits the person to access the further information via the related certain ones of the model entities.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the representations of further information comprises links to other knowledge sources.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the graphical user interface permits the person to modify the further information.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the further information is a document that is accessible to the system.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the further information is a message sent to the person by another person.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the further information is a discussion concerning the model entity among persons participating in the collaborative activity.
 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an electronic network coupling the computer-readable storage medium and the processor.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein first storage elements of the computer-readable storage medium and first processing elements of the processor are contained in a first node of the electronic network and second storage elements of the computer-readable storage medium and second processing elements of the processor are contained in a second node of the electronic network.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic network is a virtual private network.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic network is a public network.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor and computer-readable storage medium are hosted on a server remote from the persons.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the public network is the Internet. 16-36. (canceled)
 37. A system that provides a collaborative activity management service, the service accessed by persons of a client, the persons involved in a collaborative activity, the persons not being specialists in information technology, the system, comprising: a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising: a common framework that enables generation of a collaborative activity model, comprising: fundamental components that are used to create hierarchies of model entities, the model entities: providing access to information related to the collaborative activity; including a model entity contained in a first hierarchy of a first type and also simultaneously contained in a second hierarchy of a second type; and the first hierarchy neither containing nor contained in the second hierarchy, and machine instructions for collaborative activity operations according to the collaborative activity model; and a processor that: provides access to the collaborative activity model, and executes the machine instructions, wherein execution of the machine instructions causes the processor to: enable display of a graphical user interface, determine a type of access by a person to the model entities, and perform the collaborative activity operations on the model entities to: grant access by the person to the model entities according to the determined type of access; view, create, modify, and delete the model entities; assign the model entities to locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy; access and modify the information related to the collaborative activity; and display the model entities in the graphical user interface according to the locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy.
 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the computer-readable storage medium and the processor are hosted on a server, the server separate from and not part of the client, the server and client coupled by a communications network.
 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the communications network is an Internet.
 40. The system of claim 38, wherein the communications network is a virtual private network.
 41. The system of claim 40, wherein the computer-readable storage medium and processor are located on a server at the client.
 42. The system of claim 38, wherein the persons access and use the processor, the graphical user interface, and the computer-readable storage medium using only a browser.
 43. The system of claim 38, wherein the persons access and use the processor, the graphical user interface, and the computer-readable storage medium using a browser.
 44. The system of claim 38, wherein the persons access and use the processor, the graphical user interface, and the computer-readable storage medium using only a browser and an email system.
 45. The system of claim 38, wherein the persons access and use the processor, the graphical user interface, and the computer-readable storage medium using only an application.
 46. The system of claim 38, wherein the persons access and use the processor, the graphical user interface, and the computer-readable storage medium using a mobile application. 47-53. (canceled)
 54. A server-side system, comprising: a portal, hosted on a server, the portal accessed by persons at the client, the portal, comprising: a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising: a framework of fundamental components, the fundamental components including model entities; configurable permissioning controls established for each of the persons; and machine instructions that, when executed, enable generation of a collaboration model according to the framework; and a processor that executes the machine instructions wherein the processor: generates the model entities and hierarchies of model entities, by: providing access to information related to the collaboration model; providing pre-defined programming features in the model entities, the pre-defined programming features including features to view, create, modify and delete the model entities; providing access controls to limit access of a person to the generated model entities by: reading the permissioning controls; and comparing the permissioning controls to an identification of the person entered by the person in the graphical user interface placing a generated model entity in locations in a first hierarchy of a first type and in a second hierarchy of a second type; and the first hierarchy neither containing nor contained in the second hierarchy.
 55. The system of claim 54, wherein the machine instructions comprise instructions for collaboration model operations, and wherein execution of the machine instructions causes the processor to: enable display of a graphical user interface, determine a type of access by a person to the model entities, perform the collaboration operations on the model entities according to the determined type of access; provide electronic links to provide the access to information; and provide the model entities for display in the graphical user interface according to the locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy.
 56. The system of claim 54, wherein the server comprises a communications port that communicates with a browser of the client.
 57. The system of claim 54, wherein the server comprises a communications port that communicates with an application of the client.
 58. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising: a common framework comprising fundamental components for generating a collaborative activity model by persons involved in a collaborative activity, the persons not being specialists in information technology, the fundamental components comprising machine instructions for collaborative activity operations according to the common framework, the machine instructions, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to: enable display of a graphical user interface; generate model entities that provide access to information related to the collaborative activity, the model entities: including a model entity contained in a first hierarchy of a first type and also simultaneously contained in a second hierarchy of a second type, and the first hierarchy neither containing nor contained in the second hierarchy; determine a type of access by a person to the model entities, and perform further collaborative activity operations on the model entities to: grant access by the person to the model entities according to the determined type of access; modify and delete the model entities; assign the model entities to locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy; modify the information related to the collaborative activity; and display the model entities in the graphical user interface according to the locations in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy.
 59. (canceled) 